BRIDGING THE OCMULGEE

BRIDGING THE OCMULGEE

By John Harvey

Just when the first bridge was built across the Ocmulgee is not known, though the State Highway Department may have it in their records.

Whether the first bridge was at Hawkinsville or Macon, as some say, the upper Ocmulgee remained unbridged until the late 1930's. In the period between 1800 and the late 1930's several attempts were made, and some of the accounts are interesting indeed.

During the many year before the river was bridged, people crossed on the many family operated ferries between Macon and the headwaters of the river. Chief among the reasons that the river was hard to bridge were the inaccessibility of places where the river could be bridged; places where sand made a firm footing impossible; and flooding which washed away the efforts of several companies formed to build such a bridge. This was the case in the late 1890's when a unexpected flood washed away the construction already started.

Another attempt made in 1907 was reported in local newspapers. This attempt, headed by W. F. Smith of Flovilla, advertised his intention to go before the County Commissioners of Butts and Jasper Counties to ask their cooperation in forming a bridge company in partnership with the Bib Power Company of Macon. Plans were to sell shares in the bridge to be built between Key's ferry an Lloyd Shoals to people living along the river. It was announced that Mr. Howe of the Bibb Power Company had been buying land along the river with this purpose in mind. In a later interview with the Monticello News, Smith and Howe said that they had met with friendly cooperation but the people of Jasper and Butts Counties must do their part.

In the early 1920's another attempt was made by a group of young men from Jasper County to place a bridge across the river at the Seven Islands (Smith's Mill) on the old Monticello to Flovilla road. While surveying and planning were going on, materials were being stored in the basement of the "rock house". A sudden flood ended this attempt and resulted in an "instant cement flood" for the basement of the rock house.

Finally in 1938, with the paving of Georgia 16 between Jackson and Monticello, the river was bridged. Since then numerous bridges have been placed across the river. One, according to a recent report, was a bridge built by a real estate company to make a new subdivision more accessible to the city of Macon.

Additional Comments:
Transcribed by Suzanne Forte (suzanneforte@bellsouth.net) April 2005, from copies of articles contained in the Monticello News. There articles were prepared by Mr.
John Harvey and published in this newspaper during the 1970's and 1980's time frame. Some were under the title "Jasper Reflections", others "Bicentennial Bits".
Permission has been granted by Mr. Harvey for use of these very valuable and informative articles.

Copies of articles provided by Benny Hawthorne.